Prof. Romero's research interests focus on the vertebrate stress
response. Ever since the mid-1950s, the concept of stress has
consumed the attention of scientists and the public alike. We
know that stress has a multitude of bad effects, and
consequently an enormous amount of effort has gone into attempts
to reduce stress. But even after nearly fifty years of study, we
still have little knowledge of the factors that produce stress.
We do know, however, that in certain circumstances stress is
actually beneficial, especially when the stressful stimulus is a
predator or a storm facing a wild animal. Research in Dr.
Romero's laboratory is aimed at increasing our understanding of
the reasons for, and the mechanisms underlying, stress in wild
animals.

Our research takes an integrative approach. The nature of our
studies often necessitates that we work in several different
fields simultaneously (i.e., neuroscience and ecology), an
uncommon approach for studying stress. Approximately a third of
our work is done in the field, for in order to obtain a clearer
picture of how stress affects a wild animal, we must be able to
understand how that animal fits into its environment. Since
studies of mechanisms are difficult to conduct in the field,
most of our detailed mechanistic studies must be performed in
the lab. Prof. Romero's research thus consists of intimately
intertwined laboratory and field studies in the areas of
physiology, ecology, and neuroscience, all with the goal of
increasing our comprehension of the causes and effects of
stress.